Tuesday, December 15, 2009

[Ed.6] In this edition → → → → →


Though weeks old, news consumers aren’t being given details on the biggest scandal in the history of modern mankind; the headlines about Climategate aren’t there and the way it looks…

Every year news consumers are bombarded with stories about dismal retail sales forecast but this year, it seems the news isn’t so gloomy, in fact on Tampa Bay’s local news this morning…

Democrats are arranging to allow the government's debt to distend by nearly $2 trillion to pay for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The effort has nervous moderate Democrats maneuvering to…
President Obama’s Afghan policy speech has been described in different ways, but perhaps the most accurate way to describe it is to describe the man delivering it – absent principal and heavy…

The revelation that pro golfer Tiger Woods had extramarital affairs strikes this publication as not only unfortunate, but tragic. There is no doubt the famed athlete brought this scandal upon…

Climategate, the beginning of the end of environmental alarmists?


Though weeks old, news consumers aren’t being given details on the biggest scandal in the history of modern mankind; the headlines about Climategate aren’t there and the way it looks to-date, aren’t forthcoming either.

The Copenhagen Climate Summit is still in full swing, with dire predictions dictating the direction and way-of-life the free world enjoys. The policies and goals being sought are to the alarmists and precautionists necessary, no matter the fiscal or technological price. They subscribe to scientific data (now indisputably questionable at best) and put full faith and credit behind conventional wisdom and anecdotal evidence.

We who have long questioned the science and methods behind the environmental movement are now vindicated on the release (whether by hacker or whistleblower) of thousands of documents from Britain’s University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit database have been published. Professor Phil Jones, the CRU’s Director has stepped-down while and investigation is conducted. Meanwhile, in the United States, Dr. Michael Mann finds himself the subject of an inquiry at the University of Connecticut. This is no small turn-of-events considering who these men are.

As the push for green living, green hobbying, green working, green this-and-that has grown in the marketplace, 72% of Americans believe that global warming exists (down 8% from last year), but not all of that percentage believes climate change is anthropogenic. Still, why is it that we are subjected to so much pressure to be environmentally conscience? The answer lies behind former Vice President Al Gore, who has been delivering the clarion call for the green movement. But Mr. Gore is not a scientist, so where does he get his information? Mr. Gore relies on a consensus of scientists, as does the United Nation’s IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). But they like Mr. Gore are too politicians, so where is it they get this scientific consensus? From none other than Messrs Jones and Mann, the same two scientists are at the heart of the scandal known as Climategate.

Philip Jones is in charge of the two key sets of data used by the IPCC to draw up its reports and Michael Mann is the creator of the infamous “hockey stick” graph which shows an impending steep rise in global temperatures (which in 2003 was empirically demonstrated by Canadian statistician Steven McIntyre and economist Ross McKitrick to be fundamentally flawed).

Skeptics have been right to question the “science” behind global warming alarmists, in no small part due common sense and the large gaps that have gone unexplained in climate change models and now we have the proof to demonstrate it.

-- Owen E. Richason IV

Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick

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Monday, November 23, 2009

[Ed.5] In this edition → → → → →

Trying KSM in a civilian court sets a dangerous precedent
Attorney General Eric announced in a Friday afternoon media dump that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be tried in civilian federal criminal court rather than by military tribunal…
Coming to an electric company near you, environmentalism meets corporate greed
Public polling has been shifting toward increasing skepticism regarding anthropogenic global warming and chances are science actually has less to do with it than green marketing. While…
The sad reality of 2000 comes back yet again
In November of 2000, Vice President Al Gore was given a premature victory via faulty exit polling and a media eager to rid themselves of the Texas misfit cowboy. Hours later, Gore conceded…
Uncovering Recovery.gov
The Obama administration has been talking recovery in the private sector, pointing to signs of anecdotal economic upturns, but last week, ABC News uncovered a shocking slight-of-numbers…
The overseas contingency snags GITMO
For the first time since signing an executive order to close the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay, as he promised during the 2008 campaign, President Obama now admits his…
Oprah Winfrey announces the end of her daytime talk show
Oprah announced last week that her ratings dominant daytime television show, the basis of a multibillion-dollar media empire with million of viewers, will end in 2011 after 25 seasons...

Trying KSM in a civilian court sets a dangerous precedent


Attorney General Eric announced in a Friday afternoon media dump that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed would be tried in civilian federal criminal court rather than by military tribunal, a decision that is wrought with enumerable severe consequences.

Even before KSM and his murderous cohorts are put on trial, both Mr. Holder and his boss, President Obama have declared in advance of any discovery, motions, evidence presentation and jury deliberation, the defendants will be found guilty and executed accordingly. Being a former law professor, the Commander and Chief should understand jury pool poisoning and convicting defendants without having stood trial by a jury of their peers – which raises another interesting question, where in this venue will such a jury be found?

There are an abundance of problems created from such a decision – security is chief among them. KSM and the other defendant’s are prime targets for vigilantism, not to mention the cost to the citizens of New York City and the logistical nightmare of transportation. And, should KSM go pro-se, his self-defense will surely include more threats to the people of New York and Americans at-large.

The decision is not only a nightmare of legal precedents to be set, as Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) so pointed out to Mr. Holder in a recent hearing, there has never been an illegal foreign combatant tried on US soil in a civilian court. Mr. Holder has experience in terrorist cases, though not particularly a bright one: during the Clinton administration, Holder repeatedly pressured Justice Department subordinates not to oppose a highly controversial clemency grant for 16 FALN (Fuerzas Armadas de LiberaciĆ³n Nacional) members.

Critics of the decision to try KSM in federal civilian court are pointing to legitimate concerns about the coming aftermath. Indeed, there is genuine concern for what this pronouncement will set-off in domino chaos – there is a precedent, a dangerous one, which is being set. Not to mention the world stage on which jihad extraordinaire will play to the Islamic world, putting the Bush Doctrine and his administration, along with the CIA on trial.

While all of these concerns are indisputable and likely to transpire in one form or another, what seems to be missing from the debate is the reason why this decision has been reached. It may be a bit over simplistic to assign a political meat throwing to the far left, as well as the new life being given to the fringe kook birthers and Muslim in the White House conspiratorialists – neither of which will garner the administration any political good will or capital.

So why has this decision been reached? It might be no more complicated then everything else the administration is pushing, from cap-and-trade to health care reform to the slow bleed strategy in Afghanistan, the administration is trying to remake the country and once done, it will be near impossible to undo.


-- Owen E. Richason IV
Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick


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Monday, November 16, 2009

[Ed.4] In this edition → → → → →


Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said, “…I’ve spoken out a little more explicitly about this, it’s clear there are a number of moderate Democrats who are not happy with…



We now know a lot more about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan and it isn’t what the media wants to report, nor is it what the Army wants to admit. For fear of crossing the politically correct divide…



June 24th, 1974, Time Magazine featured a cover story with a family gathered around a busted out console television and a fire burning inside, warming them – the cover exclaiming…



Shadows of 1995’s government shutdown loom, but are likely to be dispersed by year’s end. The Obama administration had asked Congress to approve a debt ceiling increase by at least…



President Obama said last week that he isn’t waiting on more information on Afghanistan but being certain he has the best strategy before sending more troops and spending…



A comment on western pop culture, Michael Jackson’s death has proved just as bizarre as his life. British cable’s Sky 1 broadcasted a live seance with psychic Derek Acorah, who attempted to…

Why Madame Speaker’s health care bill is on life support

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called the House Health Care Bill DOA in the Senate, Joe Lieberman (I-CT) said, “…I’ve spoken out a little more explicitly about this, it’s clear there are a number of moderate Democrats who are not happy with the public option” and has threatened a filibuster. Senate Majority Harry Reid has done his best side-step of actually committing to anything at this point, knowing full well the bill isn’t likely to come out of the senate anytime soon.

Social Security has long been called the “third-rail” of politics because it’s not only an electric issue when broached, it will electrocute even career politicians that attempt to go about any type of reform. Seniors know that social security is unsustainable, but don’t much care as long as they get theirs now, while younger Americans are likewise afraid to address the issue for fear it will only worsen. The public option has been greeted by the American people in much the same way as social security; they don’t want a fix they know will make the situation worse – that’s why Speaker Nancy Pelosi held the vote on a Saturday night.

But the vote passed with the narrowest margin imaginable under the current House membership, though the democrats have a 38 member majority (236 to the republican’s 198 members), the vote passed 220 to 215. That doesn’t scream confidence and the fact the House bill will have to be reconciled with the Senate, means it’ll be come out of reconciliation and up for a vote in 2010 – with off-year elections in the House when all 435 members are up for reelection, those 220 “yeas” are likely to shrink and give a swell to the 215 “nays”; there are also a couple of senate seats up for reelection as well, and Harry Reid is among them, where he has consistently been losing in the polls.

Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) said of the House version, "You have to satisfy a lot of senators. And it's going to make it more of a political moderate approach, whereas the House bill is tilted a little bit to the left" an euphemistic answer that really means, this thing doesn’t have much of a chance. Harry Reid knows that Virginia and New Jersey sent a message loud and clear to Capitol Hill and with his own reelection in jeopardy may have a sober pill to swallow.

The most interesting dynamic here is the rush to get something up to the President’s desk before year’s-end in attempt to avoid fresh minded voters in 2010. But with the current senate make-up, it won’t be easy to get a bill through reconciliation. The fact this “reform” is being rushed through makes clear the intentions of those pushing it – a road to European style socialist democracy.


--
Owen E. Richason IV
Chief Editor, Killswitch Politick




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Monday, November 9, 2009

[Ed.3] In this edition → → → → →


McDonnell wins in Virginia. Christie wins in New Jersey. Foretellers of 2010? It all depends who you ask and from what vantage point they stand…

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist set to deploy to Afghanistan, reportedly shouted, "Allahu Akbar!" — an Arabic phrase for "God is great!" — as he went on the worst mass murder…

Last week, John Stossel wrote a piece entitled, “The double standard about journalists’ bias”. It was an autobiographical piece in which he recounts the blatant hypocrisy of his colleagues…

The Federal Housing Administration was expected to make public its objective audit determining the soundness of the organization. Several have doubted its security because…

The Islamic Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip can now launch rockets capable of reaching the Israeli metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said…

The World Anti-Doping Agency is seeking to probe whether any indictments can be brought against retired U.S. star Andre Agassi following his confession that he lied after failing…


Lessons from Virginia and New Jersey

McDonnell wins in Virginia. Christie wins in New Jersey. Foretellers of 2010? It all depends who you ask and from what vantage point they stand.

Governors elect Bob McDonnell and Chris Christie have their work cut out for them. Not unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger, both will have a tough go of the reforms they campaigned on: both states have big fiscal and unemployment problems.

Policy aside, what do these races say about the national political landscape? They point to change, and a monumental one at that. Pundits on the right clearly marked these races as referendums on President Obama; pundits on the left say it isn’t about Obama or his policies, that all politics are local. Of course that might be true but so is the fact that the President stumped several times for Creigh Deeds and even appeared in a campaign commercial; while in New Jersey, the President’s voice went out election-eve to voters on robo-calls, though Press Secretary Gibbs said of the President on election day, "He's not watching returns."

The question one must ask oneself about these election results is why? Why did the voters of New Jersey and Virginia elect republican governors and cast out-of-the-way establishment democrats? The answer is very simple; independent voters are taking their support away from one camp and putting it into another.

Independents flocked to the GOP and away from tax-and-spend liberals. It’s that simple. Voters don’t want to pay more in taxes when unemployment is at a 10% national average. They don’t want Washington or Trenton or Richmond to be talking about health care reform when there transportation systems are rusting.

Both republican candidates kept their issues to the state’s best interest and contrasted it against the national background. Will this strategy work for congressional and senatorial republicans come 2010? That largely depends on two factors: if the democrats keep on their present tone-deaf agenda of raising taxes and creating new government bureaucracies and if the GOP can actually govern and lead, instead of just criticizing.

Candidate Obama promised a lot of things, campaigning as a slightly left-of-center moderate, but President Obama hasn’t delivered on those promises, governing as a left-of-left politician; and those are the lessons from New Jersey and Virginia – if you talk the talk, once you’re elected you better walk the walk.


-- The Editors, Killswitch Politick

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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

[Ed.2] In this edition → → → → →


Ten months into the Obama Presidency and almost three years into the democrat congressional majority, the first national races with national implications are trending republican…



Hill dems are trying to recast health care reform with semantics and strong-arming: Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) re-dubbed the "public option" as the “consumer option” while Rep…



Iran is nuking up. North Korea is demanding one-on-one talks. China and France are lecturing the US to get our financial house in order. Afghanistan spirals toward chaos…



The Q3 2009 GDP grew by 3.5% and Ford Motor Company posted a $1 billion profit. By those indications alone, the economy ought to be showing more signs of positive growth, but it…



Honduras is on the threshold of closing stages a four-month political calamity after rival camps cut a deal that could return expelled President Manuel Zelaya to power and



American Idol runner-up, Adam Lambert, released his debut album, For Your Entertainment. For fans of 80’s hair metal/glam rock, the cover is reminiscent of Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In…

The Obama referendums: Virginia to turn red, New Jersey, purple?

Ten months into the Obama Presidency and almost three years into the democrat congressional majority, the first national races with national implications are trending republican, even in the bluest of states.

Most astute political analysts see two of four races as referendums on the Obama administration. And with good cause as they are gubernatorial races in two states Mr. Obama easily carried in 2008; it now appears there is at least organized opposition and in the worst case scenario for the administration, voter’s remorse.

In the first circumstance, it means voters in northern Virginia are not motivated to go to the polls – it was they who delivered the state to Barack Obama last November; while in New Jersey it is an unadulterated protest to the incumbent governor. The second circumstance appears to the beginning of the end of Washington’s tone-deafness and the voters of these states are among the first to tell rank-and-file congressional democrats, “You’re next”.

Whichever circumstance you prefer, both have one underlying message – Americans have grown tired of do-nothing politicians who occupy themselves with cost-exploding health care reform and talk of saving the environment while the unemployment rate nears 10%, personal savings shrink, the economy continues to drift downward.

Aside from the national discontent, there are hard numbers that paint an even grimmer picture for next year’s mid-term elections – the leaders in these races are stumping on traditional American values with a hefty side of supply-side policies and traditional American values.

In Virginia, former Attorney General Bob McDonnell maintains a double digit lead over his establishment incumbent, Attorney General Creigh Deeds. Mr. McDonnell’s campaign has focused on Virginia’s economy, infrastructure and education with a careful calculation not to nationalize the race. That strategy paid-off big time, immunizing McDonnell against Obama stumping – something Mr. Deeds’ team now knows has done little to nothing for their candidate.

In New Jersey, incumbent tax-and-spend liberal John Corzine opted out of the state’s campaign finance system, spending a whopping $11 million more than Republican challenger Chris Christie, only to find himself trailing in the latest polls.

New York's ostensibly Republican District 23 saw a huge shake-up this past weekend when Dede Scozzafava, a liberal republican, left the race while trailing conservative Doug Hoffman, an accountant who entered the race as a challenge to the RHINO and establishment liberal Bill Owens. When Scozzafava left the race, she trailed the conservative Hoffman by 15 points and the latest polling shows Hoffman leading democrat Owens by 5 points.

Lastly, in Pennsylvania, Republican-endorsed candidate for the state Supreme Court, Judge Joan Orie Melvin, is running strong opposition to Democrat Jack Panella; this in a state Mr. Obama carried by 10 points.

What New Jersey, New York 23, Virginia, and PA demonstrate is that fiscal conservatism and libertarian get and keep the government out of our lives is taking hold around the country in early elections. Moreover, it sends a clear message to Washington’s tax-and-spend liberals, “You’re next.”

-- The Editors, Killswitch Politick

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Monday, October 26, 2009

[Ed.1] In this edition → → → → →


Former Vice President Dick Cheney took a hard-line stance against the Obama administration for its unwillingness to face problems for what they are…

Pew research group released a poll on October 22nd that showed 57% of Americans believe that man is responsible for global warming, down from 77% three years prior…

The Obama administration has finally found a war that it is more-than-willing to fight – and its not in Iraq or Afghanistan

Oil prices rose above $82 a barrel briefly, the Canadian dollar is near parity with the US dollar, the Euro rose to $1.4976, the British pound rose to $1.6447 from $1.6370…

Stewart Nozette – a scientist who worked as a technical adviser for a consultant company that was wholly owned by the Israeli government – was arrested this past week in an FBI sting…

Former Alaska Governor and Vice Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, will appear on Oprah Whinfery’s show November 16th

Reality versus academia, Cheney takes on hope with no change

Former Vice President Dick Cheney took a hard-line stance against the Obama administration for its unwillingness to face problems for what they are.

In a speech to Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C, Mr. Cheney lambasted the Obama administration for its public waffling on Afghanistan, “[sending] signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries…The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger.”

Mr. Cheney also stated the President isn’t keeping the promise he made regarding in Afghanistan last March, “President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission”

So why is the former Vice President now being so critical of the Obama Administration? One would guess it was prompted by Rahm Emanuel when he stated on national television that, “…the Bush Administration hadn’t asked any tough questions about Afghanistan, and he complained that the Obama Administration had to start from scratch to put together a strategy.”

But Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration, while warranted, doesn’t address the deeper issue – and that is, Barack Obama is and always has approached issues from an academic standpoint. While Mr. Cheney has 40 years of public service as a congressman, Assistant to the President, a White House Chief of Staff, US House Minority Whip, Secretary of Defense, and Vice President, Mr. Obama has been a community organizer, a college professor, a state senator, and a US Senator (the former two lasted much longer than the latter or about 30 years less than Mr. Cheney.)

Candidate Obama and President Obama don’t seem to have much divergence, though reality is knocking, Mr. Obama prefers not to answer. In October 2007, Candidate Obama gave a speech to the Caucus for Priorities in which he stated, “As president, I will end misguided defense policies…” and continued, “I will cut tens of billions of dollars in wasteful spending. I will cut investments in unproven missile defense systems. I will not weaponize space. I will slow our development of future combat systems, and I will institute an independent defense priorities board to ensure that the Quadrennial Defense Review is not used to justify unnecessary spending…I will set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons. To seek that goal, I will not develop new nuclear weapons; I will seek a global ban on the production of fissile material, and I will negotiate with Russia to take our ICBMs off hair-trigger alert and to achieve deep cuts in our nuclear arsenals.”

Lofty promises indeed, but pre-2008 Candidate Obama and President Obama certainly don’t seem to differ; the only fly in the ointment of this agenda is a nuclear Iran and North Korea, a power-grabbing Russia, and those stubborn Islamic-fascists that populate Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, oh and FOX News.

Karl Rove and Dick Morris have both concluded the White House’s current course of action to war against a cable news network to be a political strategy to distract the American public from the administration’s failings, both foreign and domestic, but it might well be Mr. Cheney is right, that President Obama believes his words coupled with feel-good intentions and a cult of personality will cause the world to change; it isn’t – but here’s to hoping it will.


-- The Editors, Killswitch Politick


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Monday, October 19, 2009

The democrats can't win for losing, but the GOP can

There is no doubt the American people are not favorable to government health care reform. The issue tanks in approval polling and has the democrat party fractioning...

Bailout fallout: GM shuts down Saturn

General Motors announced it will shut down Saturn brand after failing to reach a purchase agreement with Penske Automotive Group...

A Rush to judgment

Rush was blitzed out of an investment consortium by an all out media blitz that seems to be a false start. Red flags were immediately thrown...

The Dow and unemployment, each toward ten

For a brief moment in over a year, the Dow Jones Industrial Index momentarily hit 10,000. While a large amount of the economy is still declining...

Inching toward chaos

As President Obama continues his public waffling on Afghanistan, the situation on the ground continues to deteriorate...

Letting air out of the balloon

For a few hours, it captured the nation and caused every cable network to switch leads. It was perhaps one of the most bizarre headlines of the year...